The six of November 2007 was THE day for all the Metalheads of Toulouse. Musically speaking (I'm talking about Metal only of course) this big French city was like dead since a lot of time but we had three great news this year. Two new big venues opened their doors during September and Dream Theater and Symphony X were the first Metal bands who played at "Le Phare" the new big musical place of Toulouse. Could we expect something better to open this venue? I don't really think so and a lot of people thought the same since that more than 2500 people were in front of the gates of the venue to see Dream Theater (and a lot of them were there to see Symphony X actually). All the ingredients to pass a great moment where present but unfortunately a lot of people (me the first…) were a bit disappointed by this concert… I will let you know why now…

First, we all were a bit disappointed (but really that's nothing so serious) by this big new venue. It's big, the sound is really good but it's totally impersonal and looks a bit like a big Basket Arena. A lot of people can come to the concerts (approximately 3500) but this venue which is really modern and functional is also really "cold"… Whatever if we can have a lot of Metal concerts there, we will come anyway…

Jeff: Symphony X performed a really quick show (between 35 and 40 mins) and essentially played songs of the last album, Paradise Lost. It was really good and intense, powerful as hell and I can tell you that the new songs worked a lot live! But unfortunately (that's the Dream Theater's FX…) the lights were horrible (we only got some terrible red lights) and the sound was extremely bad and loud. Even if the guys had a lot of energy it was not so convincing especially when you know (even if I understand this point!) that the band wanted to promote the new album and only played at the end of the set "Of Sins And Shadows" which was a perfect way to close the show but some other songs were missing… Too bad, but Symphony X has promised to come back in France next year and I'm sure that this time the band will seriously kick our asses. All what I've seen this night gave me a lot of great hopes even if it wasn't perfect of course.

DarksideMomo: Three quarter of an hour of great music and musicianship! Alas, the sound was not that great, quite rough, so you didn't hear every note or arrangment. And I was at the front; it seems that the sound was more horrible the farther you were from the scene. However, it was really good, so the power and catchiness of the songs was really apparent.The band? As always, Russell Allen was charismatic, holding the crowd in his hand, playing with his bandmates, while Michael Romeo demonstrated once more how talented he is (to say the least).

Symphony X

Jeff: Then came the time to see the great Dream Theater. The stage was full of ants (yes, just have a look on the pictures and you'll understand what I mean! ) and the lights were just exceptional. It was the same for the sound which was clean as hell (can you tell me why SX got a bad sound then?) and one more time all the guys were exceptional. Portnoy played his game always trying to have some "answers" from the crowd, even if Petrucci and Myung (as always) weren't so active on stage (but they were there, I mean that the class of these guys spoke for themselves, they didn't have to do a lot of things to be seen). Labrie and Rudess were really active too and we even had a little keyboards solo (some people said that it was boring) of Mr Rudess.

Everything was ok really it was really professional and extremely enjoyable but we had a big problem which came from… a really boring set-list. Except "This Dying Soul" all the majority of the other songs were from Octavarium and from the last album and even if it was really good technically speaking, it was also really slow and the concert was long in the end… it was hard to be captivated by the performance of Dream Theater and damn this choice was a big mistake in my opinion. Even if we had some really cool videos and a nice cartoon (a kind of Godzilla versus Dream Theater) it was a bit disappointing. Of course the fans of the band were happy by the performance of the band but I don't know why the band even removed the medley of some of their old songs… Well, it's Dream Theater, we all knew that the band was able to play something totally amazing like something a bit more boring and we weren't so lucky this night…

Dream Theater

DarksideMomo : Well…The musicianship was great, no doubt about it ! The sound was great, both clear and powerful. Everyone was impressive, even if James LaBrie was not in a good day (he seemed to take a syrup really often). The videos were good too, especially the animation on 'The Dark Eternal Night', which showed DT's members battling a monster with their instruments.
But there was a big problem : the setlist. Focusing mainly on Systematic Chaos (Constant Motion, Ministry of Lost Souls, The Dark Eternal Night, In The Presence Of Enemies), there were also songs from Octavarium (Panic Attack), Train Of Thought (I think it was Endless Sacrifice), Falling Into Infinity, and one song from Six Degrees (Blind Faith). No songs from Images and Words. No songs from Awake. Neither from Metropolis II. In fact, it was a setlist with no classics at all! And while I deeply respect Dream Theater to dare to conceive and play such a set, I was really disappointed. I think that they should have played this kind of show in a city where they play regularly (Paris, for example), because it would have been refreshing for the audience. But they didn't come here in Toulouse since the Falling into Infinity tour, and most of the audience desperately wanted to hear some classic stuff like, say, Pull Me Under, The Mirror or The Glass Prison… Just because, for most of the 2000 and more people attending the show, it was their first evening with Dream Theater.

Dream Theater

Jeff: Don't misunderstand me it was not the worst show that we've ever seen. It was good, really good but Dream Theater could be better too. Though, it's ok and I'm sure that a lot of people will come to see them again for their upcoming tour but let's hope that this time they will have the luck to listen to some of their hits! In the end, I can tell you that we have seen great musicianship but it was just too "complex" and not so "in your face" if you see what I mean… That's not a problem even if I was a bit disappointed; I can tell you that I will not miss the next French Dates of Dream Theater (who is saying that I'm an addict?).

Nice review guys. Yeah, it seems you'll never know what to expect at a Dream Theater show these days. I can totally agree about wanting to hear the classics, but I can also understand the band being sick of playing "Pull Me Under" 100,000 times.

Would you guys go back to that venue? It didn't sound like you liked it all too much

I can totally agree about wanting to hear the classics, but I can also understand the band being sick of playing "Pull Me Under" 100,000 times.

I agree. Sure, I wanna hear the classics too (I loved the setlist in Stockholm except that they skipped Awake and When Dream and Day Unite) but I think it's more important for a band to play songs they wanna play, otherwise I can imagine it must be damn boring to play the same songs over and over again.

I don't know how much I praised Iron Maiden for having the guts to not play Run to the Hills and The Number of the Beast during their last tour here.

Sure we love the classics but it's better for our favourite bands to enjoy the time on the road.

That's all fair, for sure, but if a band is playing their lesser-known stuff just for the hell of it, because it's lesser-known, not necessarily because they want to play it, then that's not so good...surely they want a good reaction from the audience? I don't mean to imply that's what DT are doing, but if that were the case then I wouldn't understand their motives. Anyways that's my 2 cents

well I am sure Dream Theater think that every song they have written is a masterpiece, so any posible setlist would please an audience
the truth is though, that people like their new albums less and less and so obviously prefer to hear the earlier stuff. I would be happy with a set of songs from the 2002 and earlier albums, it's just the latest three that do not interest me
but still, I know they are some of the more professional bands out there and they know how to put a show on whatever the setlist

I can understand the slight frustration though, one of the main highlights of the Hellfest set was "Home" and "Pull Me Under" (that was it wasnt it?)

well I am sure Dream Theater think that every song they have written is a masterpiece, so any posible setlist would please an audience
the truth is though, that people like their new albums less and less and so obviously prefer to hear the earlier stuff. I would be happy with a set of songs from the 2002 and earlier albums, it's just the latest three that do not interest me
but still, I know they are some of the more professional bands out there and they know how to put a show on whatever the setlist

I can understand the slight frustration though, one of the main highlights of the Hellfest set was "Home" and "Pull Me Under" (that was it wasnt it?)

Yes it was, "Pull Me Under" was the only song that woke me up during the Hellfest set. Their new material is pretty boring live. Though I don't particularly like this band, I've always enjoyed their live performances, except the one at Hellfest with all the songs from Octavarium and Systematic Chaos.

Saw the tour in Paris, and I think it was better. I mean, we got "The Odyssey" performed by Symphony X (even though the sound was awful). Besides we got a bit of 'Images And Words" through a medley in the encore of Dream Theater, and I think we also had "Take The Time" but to be honest, I don't know if it was real or if I dreamt it!

Nevertheless, and despite the fact I know next to no tracks from the last 3 albums, it was the best Dream Theater show I got to see so far (knowing that i had seen them only twice and in festivals).

The sound was also very bad for Symphony X but awesome for Dream Theater.

The setlist was quite different. They played a lot of classics: Take the Time, Surrounded (extended version, x100 times better than the original), Strange Deja-Vu and The Spirit Carries On. From Systematic Chaos they played Forsaken instead of Ministry of Lost Souls (you lucky ones). The same Blind Faith. No Panic Attack, no This Dying Soul (or Endless Sacrifice? You guys are very confusing xD). Guess there they played their medley too (Trial of Tears+Learning to Live+Finally Free+In The Name of God+Octavarium).

Oh, and that animation was great. Also note that Petrucci, while playing, got one of his guitar wires hooked with an ant and it took a while to free it while playing a solo . And that after the encore Portnoy came with a Barça shirt with Ronaldinho on it's back . Very nice show indeed.